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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26966569">Star Wars: The Apprentice</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreedoDidntShoot/pseuds/GreedoDidntShoot'>GreedoDidntShoot</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ahsoka Tano is a Little Shit, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Anakin Skywalker is a Little Shit, Clone Wars, Clones, Dark Anakin Skywalker, Galactic Republic (Star Wars), Gen, Human Disaster Anakin Skywalker, Jedi, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Post-Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Post-Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Rebel Alliance (Star Wars), Sith Empire, Trade Federation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:21:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,498</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26966569</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreedoDidntShoot/pseuds/GreedoDidntShoot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Follow the adventures of Caden Asher, the second Padawan of Obi-Wan Kenobi, as he helps the Republic in it's struggle to defeat the Separatists and restore peace to the galaxy. From the start of the Clone War through the days of the Empire this young Jedi fights for survival against the wrath of the galaxy.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ahsoka Tano &amp; Original Jedi Character(s), Ahsoka Tano/Original Male Character(s), Anakin Skywalker &amp; Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker &amp; Original Jedi Character(s), C-3PO/R2-D2 (Star Wars), CC-2224 | Cody &amp; CT-7567 | Rex, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Original Jedi Character(s), Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Ilum</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p> </p><p>Caden Asher shot up in his bed and rubbed his eyes before uncovering and standing up. Normally after waking up this early he'd be reluctant to leave bed, but not today. For today was the most important day of his life. He quickly made his bed and put on his brown Jedi robes which he had washed specifically for this occasion and ran a comb through his short brown hair. He packed a small backpack with a thick coat and gloves, a flashlight, a few food rations and a holoprojector in case of an emergency. He ran swiftly down the temple stairs and out to the courtyard so he could get some training in before he left. After tuning the training remotes to the highest setting and deflecting nearly every blast, he went to the sparring grounds. He was once again paired with his classmate, Ahsoka Tano. He had never really spoken to her, nothing outside the taunting procedures they ran through with every duel, they had had a sort of unspoken rivalry since he and her tied for top of the class.</p><p>"Come to get your butt kicked again?" Ahsoka asked with a smug grin.</p><p>Caden chuckled then said, "I think it only counts as a 'butt kicking' if you won."</p><p>"I did win." She shot back.</p><p>"By default, which is different from earning your victory." He said, activating his blue training saber. </p><p>Ahsoka activated hers, "You slipped on wet leafs and fell out of the ring. If it weren't a training match and you were a Sith <em>I</em> would've used that to my advantage and odds are <em>you</em> wouldn't have any limbs." </p><p>Caden quickly shook his head, "Let's go." He raised his saber.</p><p>"Your move." She replied, raising hers.</p><p>He launched at the Togruta, using the Force to lift off so he had a height advantage.</p><p>Ahsoka flipped her Lightsaber backwards in her hand and spun, easily deflecting her classmate's heavy blow.</p><p>Caden launched again with two more blows which Ahsoka dodged before using his back as a launch pad for a backflip, landing at one edge of the painted square surrounding them and kicking him to the other which he narrowly avoided going past and losing the match. "When did you learn that move?" He asked, looking back at the girl.</p><p>Ahsoka replied with, "Last week. I've been waiting for a good candidate to test it on. Now are you gonna keep hacking at me like a Rancor on death sticks or are you gonna use an actual form?"</p><p>Caden straightened his posture and adjusted his stance, raising his Lightsaber so it was only a few inches from his eye. He launched at her with a spin and deflected her defense, then leapt out of the way of her offense and delivered a powerful downward blow, jolting her Lightsaber and loosening her grip on it.</p><p>Ahsoka retaliated with a running start then a slide, attempting a slice at his shins which was deflected at the last second.</p><p>The pair clashed again and again, each landing no blows. By now they had forced each other well outside the ring but were still committed to defeating one-another. Then, Caden noticed a flaw in Ahsoka's form; every time she struck and followed through, her right flank was left wide open for a split second. He waited for her to strike again and dodged it instead of deflecting, allowing her to follow through. He brought his Lightsaber down in a chopping motion, stopping an inch from her neck. "Got you." He said with a sly grin.</p><p>Ahsoka let out a chuckle, "And I got you." She replied.</p><p>Caden looked down, when he struck her he'd left his left flank vulnerable. The tip of Ahsoka's blade set a half-inch from it his hip. "Uurrgghh." Caden grumbled, deactivating his saber and walking away.</p><p>Ahsoka followed him up the stairs to the landing pad, "Hey on the bright side I didn't win either." She said, nudging his shoulder. "Besides, you'll have another chance at glory, but if you don't start guarding that left flank then I'll steal it out from under you." She laughed.</p><p>At the top of the stairs their master, Plo Koon, waited for them with the rest of their class. "Good morning students." He said with what they assumed to be a smile.</p><p>Ahsoka and Caden sprinted to join their other four classmates in their group, sitting cross legged at the bottom of an Old Republic era ship's boarding ramp while their Master addressed them from the top.</p><p>"Initiates Caden and Ahsoka, glad you could join us. You six have been training ever since you could hold a Lightsaber. You have faced the trials of an Initiate and come out on top. And for that you have been chosen for a ritual as old as the Jedi itself. It is known as the Gathering but I believe you Initiates prefer the term 'Lightsaber Day.'" Plo said with another smile.</p><p>The children giggled and smiled at one-another.</p><p>"We are to travel to the ice planet of Ilum where you will enter a sacred cave in which you will find your Kyber Crystal. You will then bring it back to this ship where Professor Huyang will aid you in constructing your first Lightsaber. Any questions?" Plo Koon followed up.</p><p>The students shook their heads.</p><p>Plo said, "Then let us begin. Board the ship and take a seat."</p><p>They did as instructed and boarded <em>The Crucible </em>and strapped themselves to the seats.</p><p>After a few hours in hyperspace they emerged outside the icy planet. The ship was landed Plo Koon and the children walked outside into the frigid air, shielding their faces from the falling snow. Once inside the temple the Master gave them further instruction, "Once the ice wall melts you are to enter the caves and find your Kyber Crystal. You will have a limited time before the wall begins to freeze over again. If you are not back by the time it's completely refrozen, you will be trapped until the next rotation."</p><p>They gave each other nervous glances, they had all done their research on the Gathering months prior to being chosen for it, and they all knew that a rotation on Ilum was nineteen days on any normal planet.</p><p>Plo Koon cleared his throat, "Go children, be fast and smart, trust your instincts. And may the Force be with you."</p><p>The kids rushed off and soon came to three different tunnels. They did as their Master instructed and trusted their instincts and each picked a tunnel, splitting off in pairs of two. And would you guess who Caden got stuck with?</p><p>"Great." Ahsoka groaned sarcastically.</p><p>"Yeah, great." Caden said with an eye roll.</p><p>"Let's just get this over with." Ahsoka said, rushing down the cave furthest to the right.</p><p>Caden followed, turning on his flashlight. "Ahsoka wait up!" He shouted, echoing down the cave.</p><p>The two raced down the icy tunnel, careful not to trip. They came out to a wide open clearing surrounded by tall walls of ice.</p><p>Caden shined his light around the space, "I don't see anything." He said.</p><p>"That's because you aren't concentrating. Turn off your flashlight and focus." Ahsoka said. She sat down in the center of the clearing and meditated.</p><p>Caden did the same, sitting across from her. It was about five minutes before either of them spoke.</p><p>"I hear something!" Ahsoka said, standing up.</p><p>"What is it?" Caden asked.</p><p>She replied, "I.... I don't know. It sounds like a wringing. It's getting louder, can you hear it?" </p><p>Caden listened hard, "No."</p><p>"Really? It's drowning out everything else. I think it's coming from up there!" She pointed to the top of one of the walls. "I see something glowing. I think it's my Crystal!"</p><p>Caden squinted, "I can't see anything."</p><p>"Yeah. I guess Kyber Crystals can only be seen by their Jedi. I need to get up there." She said, already scanning the walls for ways up.</p><p>"Hold on, I hear something too! It's like a humming, it's coming from up there!" He pointed to the ceiling. "I see my Crystal!" </p><p>"We have to get up there." Ahsoka ran for the wall and jumped up to one of the ledges but slipped on the snow and fell back down, cutting her leg on an icicle. "Ow!" She cried.</p><p>Caden rushed over to her, "Are you okay?" He asked, propping her up.</p><p>"Yeah, I'll be fine. For now at least." She replied, wiping a tear from her eye.</p><p>He examined the cut, "You should go back, it looks long and deep." He helped her to her feet.</p><p>"No. I've come to close to call it off now. I have to finish this." Ahsoka took another leap at the wall and landed on a wider ledge. She climbed further up, using the smaller ledges as hand and footholds. The wall went completely smooth a few feet from the top, and worse: It started angling out, it'd be impossible to climb. "Caden?" She yelled down.</p><p>"Yeah?" He yelled back.</p><p>"I'm going to jump off of this, I need you to Force-push me to where the wall meets the ceiling." She called down.</p><p>He responded, "Are you sure? It sounds dangerous."</p><p>"It's my only chance. Ready?"</p><p>"Ready as I'll ever be." He assumed the stance, processing where he'd have to catch her at.</p><p>Ahsoka counted down from three then leapt off in a backflip.</p><p>Caden caught her midair and pushed her up to the top of the wall.</p><p>She grabbed her Crystal and fell to the floor, luckily Caden caught her with the Force at the last second and set her down gently. She tucked her Crystal into her coat pocket. "Thanks. Now it's your turn." She cupped her hands so she could launch him up.</p><p>"No. You need to get back there as fast as possible and get your leg treated before the wall freezes." Caden said.</p><p>"Caden, I'm fine. Just go." Ahsoka replied.</p><p>"No. I have to do this alone. Go back now." He said sternly.</p><p>"Okay, fine." She put her hand on his shoulder, "Be careful. And thank you." She walked back through the hallway.</p><p>"You too." He said back. He ran at the wall opposite to the one Ahsoka ran up. He made quick work of the climb because there were a great deal of ledges, it was getting to the crystal in the center of the ceiling that was the problem. He used the Force to blow the loose ice off the ceiling for more stability and it gave him a few options for handholds, but not enough to get him to the crystal. He swung across the first few handholds then began brainstorming, and slipping. He quickly used his mouth to pull off his gloves one at a time and lick his hands for better traction. He examined the terrain and found nothing. He had no choice but to swing the two yards to his Crystal, hope he grabs it and land without dying or injuring himself so he can't walk out. He started swinging, as fast as he could, his hands began to slip once more, it was now or never. He swung off and into a backflip, sailed straight toward his Crystal and barely touched it before he fell the one hundred feet down, catching himself before he was impaled on a stalagmite. "Poodoo." He whispered, looking back to where his Crystal was but seeing nothing, no glow, no hum, no crystal. He looked down at his closed hand and opened it. The green Kyber Crystal glowed in his palm. He rushed back down the hall and made it to the entrance and slid on his back under the crawling ice even though it was at least six inches above his head. He stood up and greeted his Master, along with the rest of the class which had made it back by now, and he could see Ahsoka's leg had been bandaged. "I got it!" He said excitedly and held up his Crystal.</p><p>"Well done Caden!" Plo said. "Ahsoka told me how you helped her as well. You have the makings of a fine Jedi. Keep it up and it won't be long before you're a Padawan."</p><p>Back on <em>The Crucible,</em> they were introduced to Professor Huyang, a six-armed droid that specialized in Lightsaber construction. He was as close to a Jedi as a droid could get. He had supplied them with the materials to make their sabers, based on their personal tastes.</p><p>Ahsoka constructed hers first, it looked relatively simple in design but still remained unique, even more so because it was made to accommodate her fighting style that required her turning the saber backwards in her hand.</p><p>The other children went next before it was Caden's turn. He constructed a saber with a two-piece silver hilt that had black grips stretching around half of the cylinders, a cone shaped emitter and studded cap at the bottom that would adjust the blade length when twisted, black wrings divided the different sections and a red button sat just below the emitter the interior was also easily accessible for modifications and adjustments. He pressed the red button and a green blade shot up out of the emitter. "Nice." He said. He stood up and took a few practice swings with it.</p><p>"Congratulations, Caden." Plo said. "You children have just taken your first step on the road to becoming Jedi Knights. If you wish you may go downstairs to train against the remotes. Your Lightsabers are your life, they are much more than weapons; they are the symbol of the Jedi Order. I hope that yours will serve you well for a long time to come. Dismissed."</p><p>The children tripped over themselves running down the stairs to test their new weapons.</p><p>"One at a time, please. We don't want any lost limbs before you even step on the battlefield!" Plo called after them.</p><p>The ship landed on Coruscant a few hours later and the younglings walked out, went into the temple, and got some well-earned rest.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Padawans At Last</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p> </p><p>It had been three years since Caden had found his Crystal on Ilum. In that time he and Ahsoka had begun to see each other less as opponents and more as friends. She was still a pain but at least they got along. And he was happy that if he hadn't been chosen as a Padawan yet, he at least had a friend at home with him.</p><p>"You're leaving?" Caden asked as he and Ahsoka sparred outside the temple.</p><p>"Yeah, pretty cool, huh? General Skywalker has requested a Padawan and I was chosen! Isn't that great?" Ahsoka asked, clashing sabers with him. "I mean, I'm about to serve under <em>the </em>General Skywalker. The greatest Jedi in the Order!"</p><p>"Skywalker? Awesome! Why didn't you tell me earlier?" He asked.</p><p>Ahsoka shrugged, "I wanted to surprise you."</p><p>"Well I'm surprised. I'm gonna miss you too." He said with a half smile.</p><p>"Now that there's no one for you to be tied with you're gonna be the top of the class. Won't be long before you're serving under a great Jedi too." She smiled.</p><p>"I suppose." He said, perking up.</p><p>"In the meantime I currently outrank you so," She cleared her throat, "I command you to get back to getting your ass kicked in this spar." She grinned.</p><p>Caden couldn't help but smile too, "Yes sir." He said with a salute. He raised his Lightsaber and struck at her and the duel proceeded, ending in a tie. "Aw, again? That's the third time this month!" He cried.</p><p>"And the tenth time this year." Ahsoka followed up. "I guess we're just destined to never beat each other." She said with a shrug.</p><p>"Eh, one of these days it'll happen. Might be a week, might be a year, might be ten, might even be four." He replied.</p><p>"Four? That seems a little specific." She said.</p><p>"Yeah, well, you never know." Caden shrugged.</p><p>"Ahsoka, it's time to go." Plo Koon called from the landing pad.</p><p>"I'll see ya soon Caden. In the meantime keep practicing. You'll need if you wanna duel a Commander." She smiled smugly.</p><p>Caden said, "You know you getting a promotion an hour ago doesn't automatically make you more skilled than me."</p><p>"Whatever you have to tell yourself, <em>Initiate</em>." Ahsoka replied.</p><p>"Well, until we meet again, <em>master</em> Tano." He said with a laugh.</p><p>"By Caden." She smiled, giving him a quick hug and rushing to her ship.</p><p>Caden watched as the ship took off, staring into the sky long after it was in hyperspace.</p><p>~</p><p>A month later Caden sat in the Temple hangar, messing around with a yellow XJ-6 speeder that had been crashed probably before the Clone Wars started and neglected ever since. Restoration was a challenging project but he was bored and needed something to do for the next few days. Unfortunately the model of thrusters it used was rendered obsolete about the same time as the Battle Of Naboo so that was a problem. He was in the middle of tearing out the old thrusters when Plo Koon approached him.</p><p>"Caden?" The Master asked.</p><p>"Yes master?" Caden looked up from the mess of wires and wrenches scattered around him.</p><p>"I have good news. You have just been assigned as a Padawan to Master Obi-Wan Kenobi." Plo said with a smile.</p><p>Caden's eyes went wide, "Seriously? Man this is great!" He jumped up and began pacing around the hangar. Not only was Kenobi a great General and skilled fighter, but he and Anakin Skywalker frequently worked together so this meant Caden would be seeing Ahsoka a lot. They'd kept in touch through holos but she rarely had free time now that she was on the front lines of the war. "When do I leave?" He asked eagerly, still processing the information.</p><p>"Tomorrow night. They're making a relief run to Dressel. The planet decided to remain unbiased in this war and the Separatists invaded them." Koon said.</p><p>"Unsurprising." Caden said.</p><p>The Master nodded. "The Queen of Dressel asked for our help in driving off the invaders and said in exchange she'd consider joining the Republic. You'll be expected to present yourself formally and that means cleaning those greasy robes." He tapped Caden's chest with the back of his hand.</p><p>Caden chuckled, "First I'm getting this speeder up and running if it kills me." </p><p>"Well given you'll be the one driving it, it probably will kill you." Plo Koon said.</p><p>Caden was about to say something but his master left before he could. He got back to repairing the speeder and got it mostly back into working condition aside from the damned thrusters. He'd have to find a new model that was roughly the same size and shape that would hook up to the same wires. A challenge, but one he was up to. He went down to level 2498 where he knew a guy who sold speeder parts at an affordable price.</p><p>"Well, if it isn't Caden Asher. Damn me to The Void." Tripp Warren said.</p><p>"Given your past I wouldn't be surprised if you already were." Caden said, gripping his friends hand. "You busy man?"</p><p>"Yeah we're about to do another smuggling run. And before you ask, yes this one is legal. What can I do for you?"</p><p>"I need a speeder thruster, I was wondering if you've recently boosted any XJ-6's?" Caden asked.</p><p>Tripp whistled, "Pretty rare nowadays, I might have one in the back of the ship somewhere." He began to walk up the ramp but stopped and added, "And by the way, I don't boost speeders. I take speeders from rich people who can afford to lose them and sell them to other rich people at twice the price." He thought over what he just said, "Okay I boost speeders."</p><p>Caden followed him up and to the back of <em>The Watcher, </em>an HWK-290 that was mostly a rusty skeleton filled in with parts from about every other ship in the galaxy and outfitted with not only a weapon system, but one that made an LAAT look like a civilian tour shuttle. "Still haven't gotten an inventory droid huh?" He asked, observing the cluttered speeder parts piled in every corner.</p><p>"No I'm waiting for you to inevitably commit a crime, get kicked out of the Jedi Order and end up on the run with me. Then you'll keep inventory." Tripp joked.</p><p>"As if. Within a week you'd be mutinied and I'd have command of this scrap heap." Caden smacked the wall of the ship.</p><p>"You'd crash it. It takes a special touch from a great pilot to handle her."</p><p>"Then how do you fly her?" Caden nudged him.</p><p>Tripp gave Caden a hard punch on the shoulder. "Screw you." He kneeled down and dug through a pile of wires and bolts. "Here it is!" He said triumphantly, holding up a large black block with a jumble of tangled wires sticking out of the top.</p><p>Caden lifted the heavy thruster out of Tripp's hands then asked, "How much you want for it?"</p><p>"A hundred credits seems fair." Tripp stroked his hairless chin. "It's pretty hard to come by stuff like that."</p><p>"Sure. If you untangle that mess of wires and replace the broken ones I'll pay you in <em>marked </em>credits, they won't do you much good at the Outer-Rim planets you hang out on though." Caden leaned against the wall.</p><p>Tripp inspected the tangled mess which he didn't even want to touch and then thought over the credits bit, "Fifty seems fair."</p><p>Caden handed his friend the unmarked credits he brought and was leaving with the final piece to his project when he something caught his eye that made him stop, "How much for this NN-14?" He picked up a silver blaster pistol off a scrap pile.</p><p>"On the house. None of the crewmates use it so it's just taking up space." Tripp nodded.</p><p>Once back at the Temple he spent the next hour untangling the wires and replacing most of them with the functioning ones from the old thruster, then he spent another hour installing the thing. When he was done it was near midnight and he desperately needed sleep so he hurried it over to the painting garage a few minutes away and completed the restoration by refining the old yellow and green paint job it once had.</p><p>~</p><p>Approximately six hours later he woke to knocking on his bedroom door.</p><p>"Caden? Wake up." Plo said from the other side of the door</p><p>"Five more minutes." Caden groaned from beneath his pillow.</p><p>"Now. Your ship leaves in ten minutes." The Master said sternly.</p><p>He managed to drag himself out of bed, the thought of seeing Ahsoka again was all that kept him from passing out. He pulled on his robes that he had spent another hour cleaning the prior night and walked out the door.</p><p>"Good morning. Drink this." Plo handed Caden a cup full of caf.</p><p>Caden drank it down in one pour, "Thanks. Got any more?"</p><p>The Kel Dor chuckled, "Get to your ship before you miss it."</p><p>"Right." Caden jogged down the hall, struggling to get his packed bag over his back and strap his blaster to his waist.</p><p>"And Caden?" Plo called after him.</p><p>Caden turned back to his master.</p><p>"May the Force be with you."</p><p>Caden nodded and gave a smile before rushing to his ship. He watched from the cockpit as the stars stretched and turned into an endless blue tunnel.</p><p>~</p><p>They emerged from Hyperspace outside Dressel which was mostly ocean and grassland, from a distance it looked like a swamp. The ship set down outside a small Republic camp, the landing gear sunk into the wet grass. Caden walked down the ramp into the humid atmosphere where he was greeted by two Clones, one in orange armor and one in blue. He could tell they were high-ranking Officers.</p><p>The orange armored one spoke first, "Commander Asher. I am Commander Cody of the 212th Clone Legion. This is Captain Rex of the 501st. Your master is waiting for you inside the base with General Skywalker."</p><p>"Lead the way, Commander." Caden said.</p><p>"Yes sir." Rex and Cody turned and walked toward a field filled with tents and attack vehicles. They walked into the biggest center tent where three Jedi stood over a holo-table that mapped out a Separatist camp. "General Kenobi. Your Padawan is here."</p><p>Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka looked up in unison at the knew arrival. "Thank you Commander." Obi-Wan said.</p><p>Caden couldn't think of what to say so he went with what first came to mind, "Hello there, General Kenobi." He said awkwardly with a wave.</p><p>Obi-Wan smiled, "Hello Caden. This is General Skywalker and you already know Commander Tano." Welcome to the Republic Army."</p><p>"Good to see you again Caden." Ahsoka said with a smile. </p><p>"You too." He smiled back.</p><p>"I trust you've been briefed on the mission?" Obi-Wan asked.</p><p>"Yes but haven't heard the plan." Caden walked forward to the large table that displayed a hologram of the map.</p><p>"Oh. Well it's quite simple really; the Separatists are attacking from the West but that leaves them vulnerable to an attack from the cliffs North of the camp." Obi-Wan started.</p><p>"Normally we'd blow up the cliffs and send a stampede of rocks raining down on them...." Anakin followed.</p><p>"But the Queen insisted we maintain the landscape so instead we have a Company of snipers stationed up there." Obi-Wan finished. "The plan is to have to snipers pick off the ground troops while our artillery and gunships focus fire on the tanks."</p><p>"If all goes well we'll be home by lunch." Ahsoka said, crossing her arms.</p><p>"Technically it's dinnertime on Coruscant." Anakin corrected.</p><p>"We'll be home in time for a very early breakfast." Ahsoka changed it.</p><p>"The most important job, however, falls on you two Padawans. We'll have them pegged in the North and West and there's nothing but water to the South so to box them in we'll need you to lead a Battalion around the cliffs and attack from the East." Obi-Wan said.</p><p>"Don't worry, we have total confidence you'll succeed so no pressure." Anakin said reassuringly. He then leaned over to Obi-Wan and whispered, "We're sending Rex or Cody with them, right?"</p><p>"Obviously." Obi-Wan whispered back.</p><p>"Total confidence, huh Skyguy?" Ahsoka asked with a glare.</p><p>Caden fought back laughter, <em>"Skyguy?" </em>He tried to maintain a straight face.</p><p>"Oh yes, like it?" Ahsoka asked.</p><p>"Love it. It fits him so well, how come you didn't tell me about this before?" Caden replied.</p><p>Ahsoka shrugged. "Feel free to use it on him anytime."</p><p>"Uh no don't do that." Anakin said, raising his voice, "Obi-Wan tell your Padawan he can't call me that."</p><p>Obi-Wan stroked his beard, curling his lips in a devilish smile, "Caden, feel free to call him that <em>anytime." </em>Anakin was about to say more but he cut him off, "As much as I'd love to further discuss this; I have to brief the troops." With that he and Ahsoka walked out of the tent, leaving Anakin in a dumbfounded state.</p><p>Caden walked around the table next to Anakin who stood idly with his mouth open. "Well you win some and you lose some, eh Skyguy?" The way it rolled off his tongue felt so natural. He gave Anakin a quick pat on the back and left to rejoin his new master.</p><p>Once the briefing ended Ahsoka and Caden were assigned three hundred troopers under their command with help from Captain Rex as Anakin insisted. The Battalion snaked through a path that separated the cliff from the mountain. Most of the path was wide and open but there were parts that you could hardly walk through and any troopers carrying rifles or rocket launchers would have to take them off their backs to squeeze through. Caden and Ahsoka were leading by about six yards while Rex hung back with the rest of the troops. The silence between the Padawans was awkward at best. They had spent so much time wanting to talk face-to-face but now that they could they had no clue what to say. Caden started it off, "So.... how's that Lightsaber doing?"</p><p>Ahsoka looked up from the pebble she had been kicking down the path, "Oh uh, good. Still kicking." She patted the weapon hanging from her belt. "You?"</p><p>"Mine's good. Hasn't seen much action." He replied.</p><p>"Mhm. That a new blaster?" She asked, eyeing the NN-14 on his waist that would've looked out of place if she didn't expect this kind of thing from him.</p><p>"Yep. I half expected there to be something wrong with it given that I got it for free." He looked down at the pistol.</p><p>"Let me guess, Tripp?" Ahsoka asked, remembering Caden's shady friend who on the few occasions they'd met had flirted with her a little too much. Caden assured her Tripp was joking and she could sense he was but that didn't make it any less annoying.</p><p>"Yep. He also gave me a sweet deal on a speeder thruster and now the Jedi garage has a fully repaired XJ-6 in it's inventory." He said with a smile.</p><p>"That old one that's been crashed for like five years?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.</p><p>"Yep." He nodded.</p><p>Ahsoka groaned, "Please don't tell me you restored that ugly-ass yellow and green paintjob."</p><p>"Bet your lekku I did. It's a classic." Caden crossed his arms.</p><p>She shook her head like a disappointed mother, "One of these days you'll learn." She whispered.</p><p>"Probably not." He chuckled. "We're coming up on the exit." He said, looking to the daylight at the end of the canyon.</p><p>Ahsoka pulled her Lightsaber off her belt and gripped it in her palm. "Be ready." She whispered.</p><p>Caden nodded and grabbed his saber, keeping his thumb just below the button.</p><p>Rex signaled the troops with a wave of his pistol and they readied their blasters.</p><p>Ahsoka and Caden stopped at the exit and braced themselves against the walls to keep in the shade. She held up her fingers and counted down, mouthing, <em>"Three, two, one." </em>The Padawans activated their Lightsabers and stormed out of the canyon with the three hundred clones at their back. Ahsoka rushed towards the one of the tanks, beheading the Commander and stabbing into the cockpit to disable the pilot.</p><p>Caden was heading for the neighboring tank and on his way swiftly took out the tactical droid leading that was leading this Battalion to back up the other droid forces. Once to the tank he stabbed the Commander through the chest and threw a droid popper into the cockpit. The fighting was over as quickly as it had begun. The forces were about equal on each side so most of the clones only had to pick one target. The droids didn't know what hit them.</p><p>"Okay boys enough rest we've still got a battle to win!" Ahsoka announced. "Move out."</p><p>"Does she even know what rest means? We've been walking for two hours." The 212th Clone called Waxer said.</p><p>"No." Rex and Caden answered in unison.</p><p>After another hour of walking they had made it back to the battlefield and things weren't looking to hot; the tanks had breached the defensive wall and the droids were now in the camp, snipers on the cliffs and ground troops did their best to cut them down but they were starting to get overwhelmed. </p><p>"Sir the Padawans are here." Cody said, pointing to Ahsoka, Caden and their troops from across the battlefield.</p><p>"Just in time." Obi-Wan said, deflecting a barrage of lasers. </p><p>The Padawans activated their Lightsabers which glowed brighter and brighter as the sun began to set. They signaled the force to attack and the clones began plowing down the droids while Anakin and Obi-Wan's forces pushed them from the other side. Within minutes the remaining droids were encircled and backed against the water line, dropping like flies until there were only four, then three, then two and finally the battle was won.</p><p>"I'm glad that worked out." Obi-Wan said, wiping his brow. "If it weren't for you two showing up when you did we would've all been dead." He gave a small smile. </p><p>"Looks like you have a good Padawan on your hands, master." Anakin said with a nod to Caden.</p><p>"Let's hope so." Obi-Wan replied, stroking his beard.</p><p>The spotlights of a ship lit up the cloudy night sky, it was the Dressellian Queen's ship. It landed on the shore and four  guards walked out with a tall Dressellian standing between them, the Queen.</p><p>"Your majesty." Obi-Wan walked up to the woman and bowed his head. "You needn't worry about the Separatists anymore. I believe we've driven them off. We will leave as soon as we can." </p><p>"Of course, Master Kenobi. And when you return home tell your Chancellor I expect an invitation to the Republic." She said with a smile.</p><p>Obi-Wan's eyes widened with surprise, "You mean you're joining us?"</p><p>"Yes. You clearly outmatch the Separatists on the battlefield and they proved they couldn't keep their word." She explained. "I want people like the Jedi fighting on my side."</p><p>"Well o-- of course, your majesty." He bowed once more and she returned to her ship.</p><p>"Okay folks pack it up, let's get this show on the road." Anakin commanded to the troops.</p><p>"Finally. I need a nap." Ahsoka said, drudging to the nearest gunship.</p><p>Caden followed suit. "I'm not waking up for another week." He groaned.</p><p>"Unfortunately you'll only get about seven hours of sleep on the ship. We're not going directly back to Coruscant. We need to make an emergency stop at Tynna. It's been heavily contested for the past few weeks and earlier today Ki-Adi-Mundi went missing. It's on our way back and we're the closest system so I volunteered us to go and try to find him." Obi-Wan said.</p><p>Anakin was the first to let out a groan, followed by the two Padawans, "Come on. There were no other Jedi in the area?" The Knight asked.</p><p>"Not any that could get there faster than us." Obi-Wan replied.</p><p>"I was really looking forward to this break. I haven't seen Coruscant in so long I'm pretty sure I've missed at least two elections. We could have a new Chancellor for all I know!" Anakin sat down on the floor of the gunship and moped. A poor decision given it was starting takeoff. He fell backwards as the ship tilted and crashed into the wall. "Ow."</p><p>"Anakin, don't you watch the news?" Ahsoka asked with heavy concern.</p><p>"You know I don't." He pointed at his Padawan from the floor. "That anchor droid is hiding something. You can see it in their eyes."</p><p>"Anakin, how many times do I have to explain this? Anchor droids cannot physically express emotion! Their designs all wrong. You can tell they're hiding something by the weird quiver their voice has when they speak." She said with a sigh.</p><p>The gunship docked inside the Venator-Class Destroyer <em>Resolute</em> and seconds after the doors to the landing bay closed the ship emerged itself into the infinite tunnel of hyperspace.</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Search And Rescue (Part I Of II)</h2></a>
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</p><p> </p><p>The Venator-Class Destroyer pulled out of hyperspace above the planet of Tynna. They could tell even from space that it was pouring rain. The space battle had advanced into the atmosphere of the planet and dangerously close to the waterline too. One wrong move and you'd be sunk, no chance for survival. Admiral Yularen lowed the ship in so it hovered above the other Venators over the ocean. One of the Separatist Providence-Class ships was giving the other ships hell, but it was damaged enough that it wouldn't be able to go head-to-head against the <em>Resolute</em> without the bridge snapping off. Yularen had the ship positioned directly above the hell raiser and began slowly going down on top of the damaged ship. The Venator as the flimsy bridge of the Providence Destroyer started compressing against it's belly, as long as Yularen kept pushing his ship down and the stupid droids kept pushing theirs up the fight would be over in minutes. Sure enough, the Seppie's bridge gave in and fell off completely. Without the bridge to guide it the ship started spinning like a dying fan, getting closer and closer to the water line until it sunk with an explosive splash.</p><p>"Well done Admiral." Obi-Wan said. "Never seen that one before."</p><p>"Thank you General." Yularen said.</p><p>"See if you can get a signal to the rescue squad, tell them we've arrived." Anakin said to one of the bridge's Commanders.</p><p>"I doubt we'll be able to get anything in this rain, Skyguy." Ahsoka said, looking out the bridge window at the gallons of water sliding off the ship's slanted panels.</p><p>"Ahsoka's right, we had better wait until the storm passes. In the meantime find one of our bases and land us there before the rain takes us down." Obi-Wan said.</p><p>Moments later the ship touched down on one of the water bases; a large platform built on tall stilts high above the waterline, similar to the ones on Kamino just much smaller. Each one could only hold a single Venator Class Destroyer. Once they landed the crew hastily rushed to the base, with a few of the mechanics and Naval Officers staying on the ship to check that everything still functioned properly after the run-in with the Separatist ship.</p><p>After throwing their cold and soaking robes in the base laundry room Ahsoka and Caden made for the mess hall. The food on a base was still terrible; dry bread, vegetables, and cheap meat. But at least it beat freeze-dried everything and nutritive bars served on the ship. In fact on base if you were an Officer you had broader food options than anyone below Second Lieutenant. Because of this Ahsoka and Caden were able to get the slightly less cheap meat and some bantha milk. Unfortunately steaks and anything considered actually good food were reserved for Generals and Admirals. </p><p>Ahsoka had a plate of mostly meat, crackers and bread, seasoned in a way that almost made it taste real. She never had a taste for vegetables, being a member of the carnivorous Togruta species so her meals were almost always meat. Caden, however, was a human and therefore an omnivore so she didn't know his excuse.</p><p>Caden's plate was mostly made up of the meat which he had seasoned to high hell the few available spices and then slathered it in an even coat of Rodian pepper sauce and downed the five strips on his plate in under a minute.</p><p>"I hope you remembered to chew." Ahsoka said. She eyed the Zeltron pop-pepper powder on Caden's pallie fruit, already imagining the taste of the horrific union, from the few fruits she had eaten she knew it wouldn't be good. She anxiously awaited his first bite into the overly spiced fruit for his reaction. Anyone else who saw his plate would've warned and even harshly judged him for the idiotic combination. She was not anyone else. Instead she planned to wait until the powder was burning a flaming hole through his tongue, <em>then </em>harshly judge him.</p><p>"I don't even know what I put on that last piece but it tastes weird." Caden said, licking the sauce off his fingers.</p><p>"That's why you read the spice labels." Ahsoka pinched the bridge of her nose, holding back a laugh as Caden repeated the sentence in a much higher pitch which she assumed was his imitation of her voice. She kicked his shin under the table.</p><p>"I am a simple man with simple needs: meat with flavor. I don't have time for labels and whatnot as long as it doesn't taste like cooked cardboard." He pointed at her with his fork that had skewered a pallie. </p><p>"Then don't come crying to me when instead of putting spice on your sandwich you put <em>spice." </em>She blew on the pallie inches from her face and the loose Zeltron powder flew off in a cloud and landed on Caden's face.</p><p>After he finished coughing and sneezing and frantically rubbing his eyes he replied, "Where the hell am I even gonna find spice just sitting around? That stuff goes for thousands of credits." </p><p>"Your friend works for the Hutt Cartel." Ahsoka stressed.</p><p>"You think they're dumb enough trust Tripp with spice?" Caden asked as if Ahsoka were the stupid one here.</p><p>"You're questioning the mental capabilities of criminals who enlist the help of immature fifteen year-olds to smuggle illegal goods across the galaxy?" At this point her expression had gone from a slightly worried friend to a mother who'd come home from a bad day at work to two kids fighting over something stupid and all she could put into words was, "Why?"</p><p> Caden shrugged and then downed the pallie in one bite. Soon after the coughing fit began. He could feel the Zeltron powder's sting in his throat, in his eyes. His breath felt like fire whenever he gasped for air, he even thought he felt his stomach boiling. He reached for his bantha milk and poured it over his face. When that didn't work he reached for Ahsoka's glass and drank that too.</p><p>Ahsoka didn't even care. She just sat back in her chair laughing her ass off. "Now are you gonna read the labels?!" She laughed once Caden began to calm down.</p><p>"Screw you." He whispered in a hoarse voice.</p><p>They heard an explosive crash and the base rocked beneath them. "What the hell?" Ahsoka asked. An alarm went off above them and the lights in the room started flashing red in sync with the blares.</p><p>"We're under attack." Caden said. "We need to get outside." He stood up and ran out the door.</p><p>Ahsoka followed him closely, gripping her Lightsaber's hilt. They made it outside to the landing platform where a swarm of Separatist vulture droids were attacking the ship. Above them was another Providence-Class ship which had even more droids flying out of it. She looked at the top of the domed base that had been set on fire. The Separatists must've blown the external fuel reserve. </p><p>The <em>Resolute </em>was already in the air, and had it's own fighters swarming out. "We need to get up there." Caden said.</p><p>"Way ahead of ya Cade." She took a running start and leapt off the landing platform and onto a Vulture Droid. She surfed on it, struggling to maintain balance on the swinging ship until she jumped onto another one the to another and so on.</p><p>Caden was quick to follow, taking a different strategy of latching onto an ARC-170's tail gun and signaling to the gunner by pointing at the <em>Resolute</em>. The gunner must've understood well enough and told the pilot because the ship turned and began heading toward the Venator. The fighter made a fly-by across the surface of the Destroyer and Caden let go of the gun. </p><p>By now Ahsoka had jumped from six different Vulture Droids and ARC-170s and she was coming up on the <em>Resolute. </em>As the fighter flew over the ship and she dropped off but slipped on the slick wet hull. She thought quick and grabbed onto a panel that had been somewhat peeled off by a laser blast. Once she regained her footing she saw Caden standing on the other side of the hull.</p><p>"Took you long enough." He said, deflecting a Vulture Droid's blast.</p><p>"We need to get inside." She ran to the ship's large hangar doors and jumped inside with a steady landing.</p><p>Caden one-upped her by jumping from one side of the entrance to the other then double backflipping in and landing in a kneeling stance.</p><p>"Showoff."</p><p>"There you two are." Anakin said, running down the halls with Obi-Wan. "Get to your ships, we need to get in the air right now."</p><p>"I hope you're as good a pilot as you are a fighter." Obi-Wan told his Padawan.</p><p>"So do I." Caden agreed. He slid into the seat of his silver and black Delta-7B Aethersprite starfighter and flipped the ignition, embracing the gentle rumble of the fighter beneath him. The matching colored astromech droid seated in front of the cockpit, R3-W5, beeped exitedly, wiggling around in his slot, "Watch my back out there, okay buddy?" Caden winked at the droid and closed the cockpit. He flew out behind Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka, staying on his master's portside. The vulture droids recognized the Jedi craft and came swarming after them. Their mistake. The four Jedi turned in perfect sync and charged toward the oncoming droids, shooting them down like flies. After the swarm was gone another wave began flying out of their Providence ship.</p><p>"Goddamn it, more of them!" Anakin said over the comms.</p><p>"Anakin, watch your language, the children are listening!" Obi-Wan yelled.</p><p>"I was!" Anakin defended. "Normally I'd say 'fu--'"</p><p>"ANAKIN!" Obi-Wan's voice came through the comms loud enough to give everyone listening temporary hearing loss.</p><p>"Focus up we're headed for the Queen Bitch." Ahsoka said as they neared the Providence Destroyer.</p><p>"Oh so she can say stuff like that but I can't?" Anakin asked.</p><p>"Get your shit together Skyguy, this isn't the time to be a little bitch." Caden replied.</p><p>There was silence on Obi-Wan's end so they assumed he either turned off his comms or was having a nervous breakdown. They confirmed it was the latter when light sniffling broke the silence followed by a tearful, <em>"Qui-Gon, give me strength."</em></p><p>The wave of enemy ships was enough to kill them a thousand times over if they weren't careful. 'Careful' meant staying single-file behind Anakin while he handled most of them. As the last of the wave was getting stomped out more began flooding from the ship.</p><p>"These guys don't know how to stay dead!" Ahsoka yelled, already beginning to blast the oncoming ships.</p><p>"How bad condition is that Providence?" Caden asked.</p><p>"Why, do you wanna buy it or something? Somehow I don't think the Seppies would oblige." Ahsoka answered.</p><p>"One engine's down and the other two are in critical condition. Most of the heat seeking missiles have been disabled." Anakin said.</p><p>Caden nodded. "Shields?"</p><p>"Down except on the bridge but they've taken a beating. Why's it matter?" Anakin questioned.</p><p>"I have a plan. Be ready to get clear once it unfolds. I'm expecting a lot of explosions." He replied.</p><p>"When exactly is that gonna be?" Ahsoka chimed in.</p><p>"You'll know when you see it." Caden switched off his comms and angled his ship directly toward the Destroyer's bridge. "R3 bring the engines to full thrust. Don't stop for anything and be ready to eject."</p><p>The droid beeped in response, "<em>Yes sir."</em></p><p>"Autopilot: Engaged. Seatbelt: Off. Cockpit: Ready for ejection." Caden listed. The fighter began accelerating toward the enemy ship rapidly; five seconds to impact, four seconds, three seconds, two, one....</p><p>"What the hell is he doing?!" Ahsoka yelled.</p><p>"He's gonna crash into the bridge and bring the ship down." Obi-Wan said.</p><p>"He's a genius." Anakin said.</p><p>"No he's an idiot and he's gonna get himself killed!"</p><p>"Eh relax, Snips, I'm sure he's got it all figured out. Now all we can do is sit back, relax and enjoy the show."</p><p>Caden's cockpit flew open and he jumped out along with his droid and basked in the glorious scene of his ship colliding with the Providence Class Destroyer's stupid bridge. It felt like he was ramming his fist directly into Count Dooku's face. And it all felt like it was happening in slow motion. Once that wore off he began the roughly five-hundred foot drop to the hull of the ship. Luckily the impact from explosion had tilted the ship backward so he managed to land on the tall neck connecting the bridge to the rest of the ship and surf down it. He reached the bottom he landed on his feet with a stinging shock to his ankles. He activated his Lightsaber and started running up the wet surface of the slanted ship then he leapt up and landed, plunging his Lightsaber straight into the outer shell of the ship and cutting a circular hole in it. From the light reading he did on these ships he figured the place he landed was lightly armored and easy to cut all the way through and hopefully above one of the hallways. He jumped into the hole and landed in one of the gunner rooms where a single battle droid was frantically pounding on the apparently malfunctioned blast door</p><p>"Let me out please!" The droid squealed in it's annoyingly high voice.</p><p>"Here, allow me to give you a hand." Caden said.</p><p>The droid turned and looked at the boy, "Thank you." He began to step out of the way when he realized, "Hey! You're a Jedi." </p><p>The droid began to reach for his blaster but Caden had a quicker draw and shot the droid's hand off, then he launched at him with his Lightsaber and ran him straight through, pinning him to the blast door's control panel and opening the door at the same time. </p><p>The droid started malfunctioning as the saber struck just below it's voice box and severed a few wires, <em>"Jedi a you're! You thank. Please out me let! <strong>Roger-roger</strong></em>." </p><p>"That was fun. Let's do it again sometime eh?" He asked. He rushed down the halls of the ship which thankfully had functioning artificial gravity. He made it to the escape pods where most of the droids boarding were to panicked to notic him. He found an empty pod and boarded it, keeping his blaster pointed at the door so he could fight off any unwelcome passengers. <em>"You really stepped in it now dumbass."</em> He thought as he pushed the button to launch, praying the boosters would engage before he hit the water or worse: The ground. The pod was getting closer to the ocean, looking more and more like it was gonna crash into the landing pad, he was about two-hundred feet up when the boosters engaged. It took one-hundred feet to slow the landing and another hundred to land, perfect. Caden cut the circular door open and rolled out, shaking the dust and debris from the ship off his robes. "Never doing that again." He said to himself.</p><p>"Good you idiot!" Ahsoka ran up behind him and tackled him in a hug.</p><p>"Hey don't be too hard on him, Snips. He saved our asses."</p><p>"Anakin!" Obi-Wan hissed through his gritted teeth. He then smiled and assumed a more formal position, "And well done Caden. We couldn't have done it without you. But next time think about just launching some torpedoes into the bridge instead of destroying a fifty-thousand credit ship."</p><p>"Yeah, that probably would've been a lot safer." Caden scratched the back of his head awkwardly.</p>
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